Predator and Prey
by chosenfire28
Summary: SPN ep The Benders done with a Buffy twist. They think they are the hunters but they’re wrong. Buffy/Dean
1. Caged

Title: Predator and Prey  
Author: Chosenfire  
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Buffy/Dean  
Spoilers: BtVS post season 7, SPN season 1 "The Benders"  
Summary: SPN ep The Benders done with a Buffy twist. They think they are the hunters but they're wrong.

AN: This is for Amber for her birthday, she asked for the episode the Benders done with a Buffy twist, something along the lines and here it is. This will be a three-part story and here is the first part, the next two are to come shortly or longly depending on the muse. Remember reviews feed her and make her not so fickle.

**Chapter 1 Caged**

Sam groaned his hand shooting to the back of his head where the pain was coming from. He winced as he twisted on his side and attempted to get up hampered by the cage he found himself locked up in. "Shit." He moaned and closed his eyes trying to form a plan.

After his discussion with Alvin Jenkins he watched as two men, he assumed, wearing long black coats and large hats that disguised any features came in. One of the men walked over to Jenkins cage and kicked it causing the other man to back off into one of the corners.

Sam's eyes were on the other man who went to a panel of buttons attached to a pole in the middle of the room. He inserted a key into the panel and twisted it and Sam looked over to where Jenkins cage opened.

As Jenkins screamed to be left alone the placed food in his cage and locked it again.

One of them disappeared out of the room while the other went to stand by the panel and Sam's brows knitted in confusion.

What were they up to now?

A cold fear filled Sam as he saw the other cloaked man carry in a small limp body in his arms. What chilled him was the hanging blond hair that shown radiant in the dark atmosphere. He was so distracted by that that when the other man banged on the cage by him he jumped back giving them time to open it and dump the woman in with them before locking it again.

Sam watched them go edging his way over to the unconscious woman and as they disappeared he brought her up into his arms her hair falling out of her face so he could see its delicate softness.

He heard Jenkins sharp intake of breath and glanced over at the other man who was straining on the cage that held him in his eyes locked on the woman the food he had been wolfing down forgotten.

"You know her?" Sam asked softly studying the dark haired unshaven man.

He nodded and his voice sounded ragged "She's the damn Calvary, we're screwed." The man looked at the girl in Sam's arms like all his hope had been lost, His earlier bravado had faded to be replaced by a look of bleak fear and Sam puzzled over his words.

He looked down at the small woman cradled in his arms. She felt so light and insubstantial. Sam wondered what about her had filled the man with such hope.

Her eyes fluttered open and when they locked on Sam's he knew.

He saw the fire, the strength. He saw what Jenkins obviously already knew about her, a warrior. Because everytime he looked in the mirror, every time he looked at his father, and everytime he looked at his brother he saw the same thing.

She groaned sitting up in his arms and muttered "Gee we haven't even had coffee." She pilled away and Sam couldn't help but laugh seeing the small smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

She looked around and noticed Jenkins "How you holding up?" she asked he man her voice taking on a commanding tone that cause Sam to wince hearing his father in her voice.

Jenkins came to attention "Good, how they grab you?" his eyes were filled with concern.

Sam saw the grimace and Buffy's lips as her eyes darkened "Bastards took me by surprise with a tranq gun in the woods." She shot Jenkins a glare "You know this is all your fault," she started wiping the dirt off her clothes mumbling "god you Watchers are worse than Dawn, its not even Tuesday."

She sighed turning to a guilty looking Jenkins "Sorry, my top is stained." She told him liked it explained everything and to her it did and apparently he did too.

Something had caught Sam's attention and he asked 'Watcher's?" the title sounding familiar to him.

Buffy's eyes went wide and she shared a quick look with Jenkins "Yeah you know Watcher's watch stuff and he was watching stuff." She finished lamely grimacing; she had never been good at the lying. She looked up at him hopefully and seeing that he wasn't buying it huffed "Well that went well."

Realization dawned on Sam "Are you a Slayer?" then he shook his head at the absurdity "No, Slayers are myths, they don't exist." He looked up at Buffy.

"You hear that," Buffy turned to Jenkins a bright smile inn place "I don't exist." Getting serious she turned to Sam "Yes Slayers do you exist and I am one and anyway how do you know about Slayers?" she turned the tables on him not too worried. For some reason she always ran into the supernaturally connected people. It did make her job a hell of a lot easier.

"Me and my brother are hunters." Sam told her vaguely dealing with the information she had told him. Slayer's existed. A thought popped into his head "So do vampires exist?"

"That's why the title is Vampire Slayer," Buffy said simply "Slayer of vampires."

Sam couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Dean was going to hate this.

"Okay I don't know why that makes you happy." Buffy looked around the cage they were kept in "But sharing time is over now can we get on with the escaping of inevitable death."

_"Dammit Jenkins." Buffy muttered her eyes scanning the parking lot for anything that could give her a clue to where her missing Watcher was. The kid had told her it was a monster and Buffy was quick to believe him cause why else would a reliable Watcher just up and disappear. _

Her cellphone rang and she answered it unable to hide the exhaustion in her voice "Yeah."

"Open your laptop, I found something." Buffy followed Willow's instructions logging in and unto her mail as she balanced it on the hood of her dark blue rental car.

"Okay what am I looking for?" she asked Willow as she switched the phone to her other ear as she clicked on the message and the black on white photos popped up.

"Well I hacked into the surveillance cameras by the highway and this is what I got." Buffy looked at the ugly camper vehicle and the pieces of the puzzle started to fit.

"Where was it last scene?" she asked her face grim.

"Disappearing into the woods."

"Okay," Buffy closed her laptop tossing it into the backseat of the rental "I'll check in tomorrow." She hung up pocketing the device and got into the car bringing up the directions on the nifty GPS courtesy of the Council's funds.

When Alvin Jenkins, Watcher, had gone missing Buffy had been the nearest one in the area and she had set out to find him. So now she had to drive into the woods to track down an errant Watcher and she had never been fond of nature.

She hated camping. 

"They're just people." Sam pointed out sounding a little shocked.

Jenkins snorted "Yeah well what did you expect."

Buffy sent him a withering glare and turned to Sam "Don't answer that." She paced the length of the cage giving off waves of agitation.

Sam turned back to Jenkins going "How often do they feed you?" trying to gather as much information as possible.

Jenkins groaned "Once a day. And they use that thing over there to open the cage." He pointed to the panel and both Buffy and Sam's eyes followed.

"What do you think they want?" the question was directed at Buffy whose eyes had locked on Sam as he reached through the top of the cage and grabbed a long metal wire stretching from the top of the pole to the ground.

Buffy said offhandedly "Depends on who they are?" Sam tried to pull it down his face scrunching up and Buffy nudged his shoulder getting his attention.

"Let me try, Slayer strength." She explained.

He nodded moving out of her way and his hands went around her waist as he boasted her up. She grabbed it concentrating fully on the task at hand and pulled.

Jenkins muttered from the cage across from theirs "They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks if you ask me, looking for love in all the wrong places."

Buffy continued to pull on the wire ignoring Jenkins tirade and it started to detach.

"Why don't you give it up?" Jenkins asked Buffy "There's no way out shorty."

Buffy gritted out "Don't call me short." The coil finally came loose and a small piece of metal fell on the floor of the cage. Sam put her down to pick it up examining it closely.

"What is it?" Jenkins asked curiously straining against the bars that held him in

"It's a bracket." Sam said turning it over.

Jenkins snorted "Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" and suddenly Jenkins cage unlocked and opened. "Must've been short." He commented getting out a smile appearing on his face "Maybe you knocked somethin' loose."

Sam and Buffy stood side by side watching him and Sam said softly "I think you should get back in there, Jenkins."

"What?" the other man looked taken aback by the suggestion to get back in the cage he had been trapped in. It was crazy.

"This isn't right." Sam said urgently, something didn't feel right about this.

"Don't you wanna get out of here?" Jenkins asked.

"Yeah…" Sam said but was interrupted by Buffy.

"It was too easy." The Slayer gave the Watcher an urgent look "You know it's never that easy."

"Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry." Jenkins made to leave.

"It could be a trap." Sam yelled.

"Jenkins get your ass back in the cage, that's an order." Buffy yelled feeling the situation spiral out of control. Sam was tight, something about this was wrong and dammit it was her job to keep these people safe.

Jenkins looked back at them "Bye Sammy, bye Buffy." He muttered and left.

Buffy pounded her fist on the metal trying to get through and Sam watched his retreating back dread in the pit of his stomach.

Buffy started to pace back and forth and when they heard the scream her face lost all color and she gritted out "I'm going to kill those bastards."


	2. Connections

_A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed, here is the next chapter and the last will be up soon. I hope you guys enjoy this and remeber to review._

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****Chapter 2 Connections**

_"This had been fun hasn't it?" Riley asked his older sister softly turning to look at her from where they sat side by side on the couch. She was the older of the two but he had at least three inches on her in height. _

She gave him a confused grin "Yeah Ri its been great," Kathleen Finn studied her baby brother wondering once again what was up with him. He was suppose to be in college in California but he had arrived on her doorstep two weeks ago with just a bag and his puppy dog eyes.

All he had said was that he needed to get away for awhile.

She wasn't buying it.

"Good, I missed you Kat." Riley gave her a wide grin and reached for the remote skimming through the channels.

"Missed you too." Kathleen grinned than checked her watch "Duty calls lil bro, don't rot your brain too much." she got up reaching for her badge and gun.

Riley gave her a small salute "Go get him sis, love you."

"Same here." Kathleen rushed out of the house already doing a mental checklist of the paperwork she still needed to file.

Riley watched her go the smile slipping off his face to be replaced with a tired sadness. He turned off the TV throwing the remote aside and dug into his pocket pulling out his cellphone.

"Hey Graham, yeah I'm ready." he sighed standing up and slipping a gold band on his ring finger. "I've said my goodbyes I just need a team to take car of the car, tell Sam I'm on my way." Saying goodbye to his sister was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do but it was a necessary measure given his new lifestyle.

Tell Sam I'll be there in an hour or so, kay see you in a few bye." he hung up stuffing the phone in his pocket and getting to work to clear all trace of him from the apartment. He wanted to get back to his wife and his team. But to do that he would have to leave his old life behind.

He took one last look around the place and bent down and scooped up his bag, it was time to move on. 

Kathleen walked up to the use noting the dilapidated state it was in. Her hand hovered near the gun in her holster and she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for handcuffing the guy to the her car.

To be fair he was impersonating an officer. She should have turned around and turned him in but the way he had sounded when he had talked about his cousin, the way he had pleaded with her like it was the most important thing in the world.

_"Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast—please." His voice broke "He's my family." _

Family was something she understood. Three years ago her brother had disappeared, she had come home to find him gone no clues nothing, even his car was missing. She knew he wouldn't have just left.

She would turn him in after they found Sam.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Kathleen knocked on the door eyeing the place wearily. She tried to keep the horror off her face as a young girl, a child, came outside. The girl was covered in filth and her hair hung down matted and unwashed." Hi, who are you?" Kathleen asked gently.

The girl seemed fascinated by her badge and she moved closer her eyes examining it. "Who are you?" the girl asked mimicking her question.

"I'm, uh, I'm Kathleen. I'm a deputy. What's your name?" Kathleen was cautious already thinking ahead and wondering if she should call child services.

The girl looked up at her her voice eerie and disconcerting "Missy."

"Missy. That's a pretty name." she gave her a small smile "Missy is your mom home?"

"She's dead." the child said bluntly.

Kathleen grimaced "I'm sorry. What about your dad?" the child, Missy, shook her head unwashed hair waving. "No? Can I come in for a minute?" Missy shook her head again and starting backing away to the door. Kathleen was afraid she would bolt. She pulled the picture the man had given her out of her pocket holding it out to the child "Have you seen that guy? Look at that picture." The child did and a wicked smile appeared on her face "What?" Kathleen asked confused.

The child was looking at something behind her and Kathleen froze as she told her evilly "That's gonna hurt."

She hadn't even turned fully when she felt something slam into her head and with a sickening crack her world went black as pain shoot through her.

"We have to find a way out of here." Buffy gritted out pacing back and forth in the small cell forcing Sam to move out of her way as the Slayer fumed.

"We will," Sam told her softly "You just need to calm down a little." The instance the words left his lips Sam knew he had made a mistake. He had forgotten an important life lesson, never tell a woman to calm down.

She rounded on him her green eyes narrowed "I need to calm down, I think I'm fairly calm given the situation." Her hand gripped the cage tightly "Or have you forgotten the fact that those freaks just killed one of my Watchers."

"I know," Sam sighed "I'm sorry."

Buffy closed her eyes her shoulders slumping "Not your fault, I just don't like being caged." Thank god the whole Slayer package came with advanced abilities, she heard them coming before she saw them.

An old man, who smelled like we had lived in the sewers grunted as he entered the barn a body thrown over his shoulder.

He didn't say a word as he tossed the woman into Jenkins cage and closed it. They heard the loud click as it was locked.

They watched him leave Sam's hand on Buffy's shoulder, he felt the bunch of muscle under the fabric and for a brief moment wondered what would happen to the old man if she got out. Seeing the anger in his eyes he knew it wouldn't be good.

They heard the woman groan and their attention shifted to her. Sam moved towards the side of the cage closest to her "Are you okay?"

She looked over at him "Are you Sam Winchester?"

Buffy straightened from where she had been leaning against their prison her arms crossed morosely. She didn't believe in fate, she didn't believe in chance. There was no way in hell she believed being stuck in a cell with Sammy Winchester was a coincidence.

"Yeah." Sam told the woman.

She smiled nervously rubbing her head " Your, uh, your cousin's looking for you." she was a little unsure of the term but Sam didn't correct her.

Sam breathed in relief "Thank God. Where is he?" knowing his brother was close by loosened the pressure in his chest. Dispelled the fear he had been feeling ever since he had woke up trapped by lunatics.

Kathleen looked sheepish "I, uh ," she ducked her head "I cuffed him to my car."

Buffy snorted at that at unable to help the humor the scene illicit in her. She would have paid to see that.

Sam sighed in defeat not knowing whether to echo Buffy's laugh or close his eyes.

The door opened and Sam and Buffy tensed both going on the defensive as Kathleen scrambled to her feet eyes widening in fear.

"Sam?" Dean Winchester's face popped before the cage and Sam grinned at seeing his big brother. "Are you hurt?" Dean asked concerned.

"No." Sam reassured him and the brother's shared a long look.

" Damn, it's good to see you." Dean grinned breaking the silence.

" How did you get out of the cuffs?" Kathleen asked and Dean turned to see her.

"Oh, I know a trick or two." Dean shifted nervously and when she looked confused he moved to the door of the cage studying the lock "Alright." he got down to business his face falling "Oh, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch." he grimaced.

Sam pointed to the control panel " Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there."

"Have you seen 'em?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head "Yeah. Dude, they're just people."

"And they jumped you?" Dean looked incredulous "Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo." he moved over to the control panel and started trying different buttons at random figuring something had to happen.

"Yeah well you know that's the thing when you get jumped," Buffy came out of the shadows where she had been watching the conversation her voice dry "there's not really a chance of defending yourself."

Dean stopped turning to her stunned "Buffy?" he breathed then groaned looking up at the ceiling "Someone up there must really have something stuck up their ass."

Buffy smiled sweetly "Good to see you too Honey."

"Wait." Sam looked from Buffy to Dean confused "You two know each other." things just got better and better.

"We dated." Buffy told him coldly her eyes still locked with Deans.

"Technically we're still dating sweetheart." Dean ground out the energy between the two practically visible.

"Really," Buffy looked like she wanted to punch something, or someone "so you hooking up with your ex was a fluke?"

"Damn witch." Dean growled rolling his eyes then turned to Buffy pleading "All we did was kiss, it didn't mean anything."

Buffy seemed to deflate a little at that and she let her arms drop to her sides "Listen just get out of here, we'll talk after he get away from the freaky hillbillies."

Dean nodded and went back to the panel asking Sam "What do they want?"

Sam shook his head a little floored by what had just happened. His brother, the original love em and leave em type had a girlfriend and she was the Slayer. He knew Dean had an aversion to what he termed "chick flick" moments but Sam really thought they needed to start talking more, really there were only so many revelations he could take. "I don't know. They let Jenkins go." he explained.

Dean turned to Buffy and she sighed "He worked for me." nodding he turned back to Sam.

Seeing the exchange between the two Sam continued "but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy." Dean muttered giving up on the panel and walking around looking out the back of the barn.

"See anything else out there?" Sam sighed.

Dean told him "Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car, too."

Kathleen looked nervous "Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" her voice choking up as her palms started to sweat. She was so close to finding out what had happened to her brother and she wasn't sure she wanted to now.

"Yeah, actually, I did." Seeing her face fall realization dawned on the oldest of the Winchester boys "Your brother's?" she nodded and he told her softly sincere "I'm sorry." after a short pause he got back on topic "Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards." He pointed to the control panel "This thing takes a key. Key?"

Buffy shrugged and Sam shook his head "I don't know."

"Alright." Dean already had a plan forming "I better go find it."

Before he left Sam called out "Hey." his brother turned around "Be careful."

Dean's eyes went from Sam to rest on Buffy who was watching him concern clearly in his eyes. He nodded "Yeah." and left.

Sam turned to Buffy who gave him a lopsided grin "Surprise." she shifted nervously.

"So your dating my brother?" Sam asked and when she nodded asked "For how long?"

"About a year." Buffy told him softly studying his reaction.

Sam couldn't hide the way his eyes widened, a year, Dean had kept this from the whole time. "Oh."


	3. Conclusion

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A/N: Well this is the end people. There is a possibility of a sequel but it won't be for a while. I want to thank those who are following this story, you guys are great and I hope you enjoy this. Remember, REVIEW :-)

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**Chapter 3 Conclusion**

Dean groaned as his eyes slowly blinking open as a dull pain pulsated at the back of his head. He looked around dread filling him as he felt the rope chafing his wrist. The damn hillibilly family was crowded around him and he was tied defenseless to a chair.

"Come on. Let us hunt him." one of the flithy brothers asked the older man who Dean assumed to be the daddy the little brat was yelling for.

The other pipped up " Yeah, this one's a fighter. Sure would be fun to hunt." the father laughed and Dean got feed up as he realized what these sick fucks did for kicks.

Dean rolled his voice dripping with disgust "Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me. That's what this is about? You yahoos hunt people?"

The father turned to him asking "You ever killed before? "

Dean snorted remebering the spirits and demons he had wasted over the years. The things he had set on fire and the creatures that had died by his knife or bullets. A bitter smile touched his lips "Well, that depends on what you mean?"

The father of this twisted family started talking " I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear-I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive."

Dean looked at him remebering the pictures of the dead men seeing Sam's face, Buffy's and he grimaced "You're a sick puppy."

The man sounded proud "We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy." The last part was directed at Dean.

"Yeah, well, don't sell yourself short." Dean grinned "You're plenty sloppy."

The man was obviously fishing for information "So, what, you with that pretty cop? Are you a cop?"

Dean considered that for a moment than asked seriously "If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?" for his cooment he received a punch that jarred his vision from on of the tweedle dick brothers.

The father got up walking towards the fireplace "Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know." he lifted out a poker from the fire and Dean's eyes were riverted on the red tip.

Dean felt fear but he did he pushed it back and opened his mouth "Yeah, how 'bout it's not nice to marry your sister?"

Pa psycho continued to advance on him "Tell me-any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you?"

Dean grunted "Oh, eat me." He rethought that adding hurriedly "No, no, no, wait, wait-you actually might." One of the brothers grabbed his head and Dean gritted his teeth unable to stop the way his body jerked away from the contact and the light of the hot poker burned in his eyes reflecting the terror he couldn't contain.

The father snarled at him "You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games. Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys." he smiled nastily at Dean "And you get to pick the animal. The boy, the cop, or the girl?"

Dean panicked slightly the fear he had been holding back breaking loose as he could feel the situation spinning out of control "Okay, wait, wait-look, nobody's comin' for me, alright? It's just us."

The evile fuck was in his element as he continued knowing he had all the control, that he was in power "You don't choose, I will." he took the poker and pressed it into Dean's shoulder digging deep as Dean gritted his teeth sweat breaking across his forward as he tried not to scream at the searing pain.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Dean panted angrily as the poker was put an inch from his eyes strong hands holding him still tears springing in his eyes.

"Next time," the man informed him "I'll take an eye."

Dean panicked "Alright, the guy! Take the guy." He knew Sammy could take the bastards. Hell Buffy would probably lay them out but he didn't want to know if she would be fast enough, if being a Slayer would save her. She was a Slayer second and the woman he was in love with first and he could never put her life on the line like that. Sam could take them.

His head was released and the poker was moved away from his eye. The sick bastard tossed a ring of keys to one of his sons "Lee, go do it. Don't let him out though." He drew out the words for Dean's benefit each hitting like a blow "Shoot him in the cage."

"What?" disbelief shone in his eyes "I thought you said you were gonna hunt him." Dean struggled losing his control, losing the calm facade he had kept up "You were gonna give him a chance."

"Lee," the man told his son "when you're done with the boy shot the bitches too." He watched Dean as he said this. Lee nodded grabbing his rifle on his way out and Dean's eyes were wide with unabashed terror. "Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin' out here." Sam, Buffy, those bastards were just going to kill them, shot them like animals and he was tied tot his damn chair.

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"He's taking too long," Buffy muttered as she continued to pace the length of the cage "something went wrong." Sam watched her crouching down his height not allowing him to stand up straight.

"So you're dating his cousin?" Kathleen asked softly from her cage.

Buffy shared a look with Sam her eyebrows raising slightly at that and he nodded. "Yeah, we're dating."

"Did you know he impersonated a police officer to find his cousin?" Kathleen asked pointedly.

Buffy snorted shaking her head "No, but it doesn't suprise me." She looked over at Sam "So are we suppose to just wait here while he boy wonder saves the day even though he most likely got himself caught or are we going to get out of here?"

There was a creak as the barn door opened and three heads turned to watch as another filthy hillbilly entered walking over to the control panel. He inserted the key Buffy had saw the older guy use earlier and twisted it.

Sam came to stand beside Buffy his body language screaming of stupid protective Winchester and he asked cautiously "What are you doing?" He got no answer and the door to their cage unlocked and the man walked towards them a rifle slung over his shoulder.

Buffy backed off slightly letting Sam take the lead and the youngest Winchester noticed the bracket on the floor and ducked down swiftly grabbing it. The man opened the cage door and aimed the gun on Sam and Buffy felt her body freeze with fear. Luckily Sam didn't.

"Hey!" Kathleen yelled.

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A gunshot rang out and Dean started to struggle futily the ropes bitting into his wrist. He didn't felt it as he yelled "You hurt my brother, I'll kill you, I swear. I'll kill you all. I will kill you all!" he yelled his voice echoing in the front room growing more vicious as he thought of his brother being shot, of Buffy not even being able to defend herself.

And their wasn't a god damn thing he could about it and that was tearing him up inside.

The father yelled "Lee!" checking to see if his son had gotten the job done.

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Buffy scrambled ot of the cage as Sam tackled the bastard to the ground the two fighting like wild animals on the ground Sam clearly having the advantage with more finesse and skill at hand to hand combat.

He grabbed the gun and hit the other guy in the face rising and oulling the trigger only to have the gun not fire. "Damn." Sam muttered turning back to Buffy "Are you okay?"

She gave him a half hearted grin "Peachy," looking down at the unconscious man in disgust "I really hate guns." she bit out vehmentally.

Sam grabbed the key from the control panel and used it to unlock Kathleen's cage shouting at Buffy "Put him in the other one."

She nodded reaching for the guys shoulders.

"He looks heavy, do you need any help?" KAthleen asked steeping out of the cage looking at Buffy doubtful as she began to pull at the guy.

The Slayer gave her a wide grin "Nah, I can handle it, thanks." and she hefted the guy up with a strength that a person her size shouldn't posses and tossed him into the cell they had been locked up in a small smile touching her lips as his body thudded on the ground harshly.

Served the creep right.

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"Lee." the father yelled again and turned the other three members of his twisted family "Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch him now." he indicated Dean who was glaring daggers at them hate brimming from his eyes masking the hope he felt. He wished something had gone horribly wrong with their fucked up little plan.

The son grabbed two riffles handing one to his father and the freaky girl came to stand next to Dean holding a knife dangerously close to his eye.

They left and Dean eyed the girl a plan forming as he continued to struggle against his bindings.

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The father and son entered the barn guns raised eyes scanning the darkness looking for signs of the prisoners or the missing member of their family. "Lee where are ya? lee!" Pa yelled.

They found him in the boys and bitch's cage unconscious and locked in. "Damn it, Jared get the lights!" Pa ordered and his son complied moving over to the light switch and pushing the ON switch but nothing happened.

The barn remained dark.

"They must have blown the fuses." Jared deducted oh so brightly. Pa tried the control panel but it was broken so the two moved into another part of the barn.

Sam hid behind a bale of hay Buffy right beside him both waiting patiently hunters by right and years of training.

The father and son were distracted by a noise and the son, Jared, looked around one area of the room while Pa climbed up the ladder to the balcony. Buffy watched Kathleen move swiftly to a cabinet and open it her movements silent in the still room but stopped as she heard a noise.

Sam and Buffy share a look and he nods and she moves away not even disturbing the air as she makes her way to one of the men. Kathleen drops down on his back wrapping her arms around his neck and Buffy moves faster than any normal human could her foot connecting with his jaw bringing him down swiftly the woman on his back scrambling off.

There is a comotion and Buffy whirled around to see the old man scrambling after Sam firing his rifle. Buffy's eyes dropped down to the ground in time to see the one she had thought she had taken care of pointing his gun at her.

"Hey!" Sam's voice echos in the barn and Jared turned the gun from Buffy to Sam firing off a shot. Sam ducked and the bullet hit the father i the chest bringing him down and what Buffy can only view as fate smiling at them.

Jared cocked the gun again and Buffy finally decided enough was enough and grabbed it using it to knock him unconscious with a hard blow to the head. She lifts up the gun grimacing and hands it to Kathleen.

"Nice job," Sam give Buffy a smile the tension draining from his body "I can see why Dean likes you."

Buffy batted her eyelashed almost playfully feeling giddy that they had tooken down the bad guys "I do try." She looked down at the unconscious hillbilly and wrinkled her nose "I am so not moving this one, he smells and its your turn."

Sam rolled his eyes and began to drag the filth back to where the cages where tossing him in the one Kathleen had been locked up in. When he shut the door Buffy used the control panel to lock it and the two made their way back to where Kathleen was standing over Pa the rifle in her hand keeping the bastard in place.

"I'll watch this one," she told Sam and Buffy firmly "You go ahead. Sam nodded but Buffy hesitated seeing the look in her eyes. Sam glanced back to see her standing there and torn she ran to catch up with him needing to check on Dean knowing that the old man wasn't going to make it out of this breathing.

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Sam had to push himself to keep up with Buffy as they raced into the house Buffy taking the ssteps in two leaps. "Dean," she yelled desperately as she entered the house and her eyes landed on him propping a chair against the closet door the screaming of the yougest psycho family member coming from behind it.

He turned to her and a slow smile broke across his face and they met in the middle of the floor mouths clashing in a desperate kiss heat radiating off their bodies as her hands wound around his neck and his gripped her waist dragging her fully against him.

"Guys." Sam shouted and the two drew away breathlessly their eyes glazed as they remained locked on one another.

"I'm not kissing you Sammy." Dean declared offhandedly as Buffy's hands began to trail over his body her eyes filling with fire as they came to the burns on his shoulder and the angry red welts on his skin.

His grip on her loosened as she buried her head in his chest her eyes closing as she breathed in his scent and he held her pressing a soft kiss to her forhead and rubbing his nose on her hair glorying in the feel of her in his arms.0

Sam rolled his eyes "Are you two done?" as he approached them coming to stand beside Dean.

Dean pressed one last kiss to the edge of Buffy's mouth before the two drew apart "Yeah, that covers it." He looked between the two "So you guys handled it?" they began to amke their way out of the house and a shot could be heard. Buffy glanced at Dean then Sam and forced a smile "Yeah their taken care of."

Dean nodded and the three walked down the front door making their way down the porch steeps where they meet up with Kathleen who was exiting the barn.

"Where's the girl?" Kathleen asked Dean.

Dean smiled slightly as if relishing the words "Locked in the closet. What about the dad?"

She pasued and her eyes locked with Buffy's as she replied stonily "Shot." each word leaden and unemotional "Trying to escape." They all knew it was a lie but nobody called her on it. Buffy knew that if she had been left alone with the guy a gun in hand she might have done the same thing.

Jenkins was dead because of that freak and his family. He wasn't exactly the brightest guy. He had been a third generation Watcher from a family that had left the Council before he was born but he had been damn reliable and the five Slayers he had trained would want vengeance and they would grieve.

He was the only reason three of them were alive to begin with, hell one of the girls was his daughter and Buffy dreaded having to tell them that he had been killed, by humans of all things.

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They were leaving. The four of them walking side by side Dean's arms slung around Buffy's shoulders as she cuddled into his body for the body heat as well as the body. They still needed to talk but for right now she was exhausted and content to let herself lean on him.

"I think the car is at the police station." Dean told Sam as Kathleen was talking to somebody on her walkie-talkie. Sam nodded and Buffy glanced back at Kathleen wondering what was familiar aboutt he woman. She moved like someone Buffy used to know and it was bugging her.

Kathleen turned to them "So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here withing the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest you three be long gone by then."

Dean nodded "Thanks Officer Finn," and something clicked in Buffy's mind and her eyes widened only hearing Dean faintly as she fit in the pieces of the puzzle "Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride? "

She glanced at them giving Dean an unamused look "Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car."

Sam tugged at Dean before he could say anything else putting in "Sounds great to me. Thanks."

Buffy could feel the urgency in the boys to leave but she stepped away from them taking a step closer to Kathleen "I'm sorry about your brother, Riley wasn't it? Riley Finn?"

Kathleen nodded sadness tugging at her eyes "Yeah, thank you." her eyes began to tear up as her tough facade cracked "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth-but it isn't really."

"Let me guess," Buffy said sympathically anger burning inside "He was a regular corn feed Iowa boy?"

Kathleen nodded "Yeah, how did you know?"

Buffy shrugged "Lucky guess, sounds like someone I thought I knew."

Kathleen nodded pulling herself back together "Anyway, you should go." Buffy nodded and her hand enterwined with Dean's as she started walking away Sam on Dean's other side Kathleen watching the three of them go holding in her tears.

They hit the road and Dean turned to Sam "Never do that again."

"Do what?" Sam asked innocently

Dean glowered at him still holding Buffy's hands as she watched the spectactle in interest "Go missin' like that."

Realization dawned on Sam and he told Dean smugly "You were worried about me." laughing joyfully.

Dean shook his head his grip on Buffy's hand loosening as he let go and slipped his arm comfortablly around her shoulders "All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for ya."

Sam and Buffy shared a look and Sam snorted "Sure, you won't."

Dean looked between Buffy and Sam declaring firmly to the both of them, "I'm not".

Sam changed the subject laughter still lingering in his voice "So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?"

Dean growled "Oh, shut up."

Sam gloated repeating the words Dean had said to him earlier "Just sayin', gettin' rusty there, kiddo."

"Shut up." Dean laughed and Buffy giggled softly letting a smile replace the dark thoughts she had had since she had found out who Kathleen Finn was. Riley had once told her he had a sister, an older sister named Kathleen who had become a police officer.

Now she believed her brother was dead and Buffy knew that the perfect little soldier had had to do that to protect her. He couldn't exist anymore, at least not as the brother she remebered and if he would have stayed in his life he would have had to tell her the truth and her job could be compromised.

So he had decided to fake his own death and Buffy was determined to give him an earful about it later when she reached a phone. She cuddled in closer to Dean and looked down at her in concern. She just gave him a soft smile, she also had to tell Jenkins daughter and his Slayers that the man wasn't coming back.

Dean pressed another soft kiss to her forhead and Buffy sighed listen to the two brother's bicker as they trudged along the streets. She was so tired of being the responsible one, she saw the light in Dean's eyes as he joked with his brother and she let herself consider letting go of those responsibilities to pursue something else.

Something she had never let herself have.

"You're quiet," Dean turned to her "What's on your mind?" Both him and Sam where looking at her waiting. Buffy knew she loved Dean, half the time she wanted to beat him but for the most part he did exactly what she wanted him to, he drove her wild and made her feel incredible normal it hhurt sometimes.

From her stay in the cage with Sam she already knew she liked the guy. He was funny and smart and it was obvious that he cared for his brother and was willing to give her a chance.

Buffy took a deep breath "So how would you guys feel about me tagging along with you?"

Her question was greeted with silence and Dean broke out into a wide grin and turned to Sam. Sam just returned the smile "It wouldn't hurt any to have a Slayer along."

Dean nodded happily "And she gets a fat check from the Council every week so more run down motels."

Buffy glanced between the two "So I take that as a yes?"

Both brothers nodded and Dean twirled her around laughing.


End file.
